


decent song at last

by anthiese



Series: I really should go to sleep instead of making this [3]
Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Ball (Fire Emblem: Three Houses), Gen, Pre-Time Skip, Pre-Timeskip | Academy Phase (Fire Emblem: Three Houses), no beta we die like Glenn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-11
Updated: 2020-01-11
Packaged: 2021-02-27 08:08:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 730
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22213831
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anthiese/pseuds/anthiese
Summary: The night is still young when Ingrid is done sampling each dish, and she’s left with nothing to do but sit and watch the dances unfurl.For the Felannie server drabble challenge!
Series: I really should go to sleep instead of making this [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1592482
Comments: 3
Kudos: 23
Collections: Bread Eaters, Those Who Drabble in the Dark





	decent song at last

**Author's Note:**

> AJ's prompt for this week: “It’s time to dance”: write 200-500 words about dancing, going to a dance, asking someone to dance, learning/teaching dance, balls, festivals, dance competitions etc (as long as the etc is reasonably within the bounds of dance/dance related activities)
> 
> I went off the word count again but I will not apologize for writing my favorite (not-really-)siblings. Enjoy!

The reception hall is a blur of spinning silk and velvet in front of Ingrid’s eyes. She kept them low all through the evening, focusing on the lavish buffet instead of the dance floor, but the night is still young when she’s done sampling each dish, and she’s left with nothing to do but sit and watch the dances unfurl. 

The last ball she went to was in the capital, before the tragedy, and Ingrid isn’t quite sure how to even enjoy herself in a circumstance like this – and she’s so focused on trying to remember how it went back then, and who she danced with, and if she danced at all, that she doesn’t register there’s someone sitting on her bench until he speaks. 

“You look miserable.” 

The voice doesn’t startle her, because it’s Felix. She doesn’t even bother looking at him. 

“You’ve told me that line before.” 

“Because you were.” 

Ingrid shrugs her shoulders. She supposes he’s right —well, she knows he is— but she could’ve lived without him pointing it out. 

“You’re thinking about the past again.” Felix says, and she can’t even deny it because it’s not a question. 

“And you’re here to stop me?” she asks, a smile starting to pull at her lips. 

Last time she talked the past it didn’t turn out pretty, because she hurt him and he decided to reciprocate, but apologies have never been a thing between them. They moved on, forgave each other and forgave themselves. So, just as she expects, Felix scoffs, amused— and she knows in a different time he would’ve actually laughed, but for now this is enough. 

“You can be miserable over whatever you like, if you don’t drag me with you.” He tells her, staring straight ahead of them. “But I think there’s room for you to anguish about the present, if you want to go for a change.” 

Ingrid follows his eyes to the middle of the dance floor, where a lean figure adorned in red ribbons is gracefully spinning around a smaller one in teal, sending brown and orange curls whirling all around. The echo of their laughter reaches her ears even through the loud music. Maybe if she hadn’t spent the evening eating, she could be the one spinning, right now. 

“Thank you, Felix. Now I feel worse.” 

“Think nothing of it.” 

Ingrid rolls her eyes. Stupid jealousy and stupid envy aside, the music is catchy, and those two seem to be having fun, and seeing that smile is... She turns away, to Felix. 

“Why didn’t you invite her?” 

“Why didn’t you invite _her?_ ” he shoots back, eyes shifting to the figure in red. 

“You’re good at dancing,” she tells him. He lifts an eyebrow. “It’s different for me.” 

Felix is silent for a long time, attentively following the steps of the two laughing figures twirling back into the main formation. 

“You know it’s not about that.” He says eventually. “Remember in Fhirdiad? You’d dance with your brothers, or with me. Never with him.” 

“What are you trying to say, Felix?” 

Now she’s starting to remember, the ball and the round face smiling at her and calling her Inge and dragging her to the dance floor because she wasn’t brave enough to ask Glenn. But things have changed so much since then. Her eyes gloss over the figure in red, so irremediably different from the one she used to look at in nights like that... 

“That you’re still a coward,” Felix says. Ingrid turns back to him, but he’s already standing up and offering her a hand before giving her the time to push him off the bench. “Come on.” 

She laughs. “You’re asking _me_ to dance?” 

“It’s annoying to see you with that pitiful expression. Somebody has to push you there,” his head motions to the dance floor, “and your brothers aren’t here to do it, so...” 

Felix trails off, turning to look to the center of the hall, hand still outstretched towards her. Ingrid considers asking him to elaborate, in equal parts because she’s curious and because she wants to annoy him, but she decides to save it for another time. She takes his hand, and he leads her to the dance floor. 

As the new song begins and the ghost of amusement starts to appear in Felix’s eyes, Ingrid wonders if maybe some things always stay the same. 

**Author's Note:**

> They def managed to swap partners halfway through, and Ingrid got her dance with the dream girl, but in the meantime...  
> I'll have to dance with Felix (shrug emoji) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdSBmKizdB8


End file.
